MARRS (stylised
M|A|R|R|S) was a 1987 one-off recording act formed by the
groups A.R. Kane and Colourbox, which only released one commercial
disc. It became "a one-hit wonder of rare influence"[1]
because of their international hit "Pump Up the Volume",
and

nominated for a Grammy Award in 1989. MARRS started in 1987 as a
collaboration between the groups A.R. Kane and Colourbox, with
additional input from DJs Chris "C.J."

Mackintosh, Dave
Dorrell .[1] The result was that instead of working together, the two
groups ended up recording a track each, then turning it over to the
other for additional input.

Of the two pieces
completed, one, "Anitina," was an A.R. Kane track with drum
programming by Colourbox's Steve Young. The other, "Pump Up
the Volume", was a propulsive Martyn Young track constructed
largely of samples, including one of A.R. Kane's guitars.

The record was released
under the alias MARRS, an acronym derived from the forenames of the
five 4AD artists involved in the project: Martyn Young (from
Colourbox), Alex Ayuli and Rudy Tambala (from A.R. Kane), Russell
Smith (an associate A.R. Kane member and founder of Terminal
Cheesecake), and Steve Young (from Colourbox).

The ostensibly double
A-sided single "Pump Up the Volume" / "Anitina",
released on 4AD in the UK, was to be the sole MARRS release. Only
"Pump Up the Volume" gained significant attention
and airplay and went on to be a #1 hit in the United Kingdom, Canada,

the Netherlands and New Zealand, as well as a top-ten hit in several
other countries. ("Anitina" was listed on the UK charts
after several weeks, but a note on the actual chart explained that
"Anitina" was listed at the record company's request,
"without significant evidence of consumer interest" in the
track.)

"Pump Up the
Volume" was released on 4th &B’way/Island Records in
the US. Because of legal issues, some of the samples used in the
original UK release of the song were removed and replaced in the US
release. These disputes relate amongst other things, together with
the creative participation at this time (speech samples, beats) of
M-Sha-L.

It was nominated for the
1989 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, but lost out
to "Close-Up" by David Sanborn. In September 1987, MARRS
announced that it would not issue a follow up release.